Sir Thomas Inc.

Grand Bend, ON, CA. – Team Owner Mel Bush used every aspect of his team to get his driver, Tommy D'Aprile, into the finals at the recently completed Mopar Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada.

"Everyone on this team did their jobs to the highest level. Tommy did one hell of a job behind the wheel and my crew along with the guys from Jan-Cen Motorsports are second to none. I've been around this sport for a lot of years and to see how well these guys work under pressure is amazing," said Bush.

D'Aprile qualified Bush's unique '62 Bel Air in the number two spot with a 6.044 at over 237 miles per hour pairing him with Thomas Patterson. Patterson, from Spring, Texas, qualified his '70 Dodge Charger in the tenth spot with 6.201 elapsed time. D'Aprile took an incredible starting line advantage posting a .006 reaction time. D'Aprile needed every bit of his starting line advantage to take the win as he ran into mechanical troubles 320 feet before the finish line. Patterson posted a slightly quicker elapsed time of 6.232 to D'Aprile's 6.233 but D'Aprile took the hole shot win.

Between rounds the Mel Bush Motorsports' pit was a hive of activity as the team frantically prepared their wounded machine for round two. Kevin Peters, of Jan-Cen Motorsports, explained the situation. "We are having a slight ignition problem. It started at the last race and the travel between races made it next to impossible to properly diagnose. The same thing happened here and I think we now have an idea of the cause. We'll investigate this situation more at the shop but right now it's about getting her ready for next round," said Peters.

Edmonton, Al, CA. – While plagued by rain the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, CARS RV & Marine & Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by TORCO Racing Fuels will be a bright spot in now veteran driver, Tommy D'Aprile's career.

On D'Aprile's first qualifying attempt he was able to lay down a 6.235 e.t. at just over 230 miles per hour. That run held D'Aprile throughout a rain shortened qualifying and place him fifth on the eliminations ladder.

With corrected altitudes ranging from 3,500 feet above sea level to just over 5,500 feet it's easy to see why performance would drop off in such thin air but don't tell that to Castrol Raceway's new Pro Mod Track Elapsed Time Record Holder, Tommy D'Aprile. In round one D'Aprile faced off with mentor and former boss, Quain Stott. D'Aprile took nearly a three-hundredths advantage on the tree and powered down the Edmonton quarter mile setting a new track elapsed time record of 6.096. D'Aprile's mile an hour of 233.76 on the same run held as Top Speed of the Meet.

Round two was slowed by rain but D'Aprile showed his 6.09 was no fluke by defeating Jason Stock with a 6.136 at 225.37. The win over Stock was a costly one as a wounded piston forced the Mel Bush Motorsports team into overdrive between rounds rebuilding the Jan-Cen Hemi in just 35 minutes.